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Re: [FAQ]

HTML is standard. Just don't use extensions. ;) Stick to the HTML 2 spec and
anything from NS2 and IE2 can read it. Not to mention Lynx, a popular text
based
browser for UNIX users. The HTML codes I am thinking to use are just links. No
special fonts or anything like that. Which makes it easy to translate to
text via
software. And pictures can have ASCII equivalants, the ALT tag, and would be
small JPEGs.

If you want to go raw text, then I sugest we make it text-mode raw text. 80
columns, 25 lines per screen. For an example open a DOS prompt on your Windows
box and run "edit". Notepad will work, but it needs to be set to use 80 column
lines. I think long lines is the reason Chapter 3 doesn't render very well in
browsers. Remember, all the world is not Windows, we don't all HAVE
"Notepad" and
ASCII 80x25 is the closest thing to a standard we have. HTML is only a little
behined if we stick to basics.

With the document looking to be so big, HTML is nice because it's easy to split
up the thing and have a single TOC link to all the files. Thus download
times are
lower per page. I know of some software that will take a simple HTML site and
translate it into raw text, connecting all the files if needed. There are a few
FAQs that take this approach and it works quite well. We can then ZIP it up for
those who pay by the minute for phone calls so they can get a really fast
download. I don't want to cost our friends on the other side of the pond
too much
to read this thing. ;)

Travis


Tesla List wrote:

> Original Poster: NickandSim-at-aol-dot-com
>
> Hi Travis, All,
>                    I agree that ascii art is not the best.  However it does
> make life a hell of a lot simpler for all concerned.  As browser standards
> change and god knows what else the html wil outdate.  I know all this stuff
> is supposed to be backward compatible but I had to re-code most of my site
> with the coming of IE5 and whose's to say that IE6 won't be the same.  As
> most tesla coil cicuits are simple to say the least I don't see any need to
> make life harder than It has to be.
> Ascii art also has the advantage of being compact so that those of use with
> limited Internet access can still get our files fast - bear in mind this
> thing is gonna be the best part of 200 pages long if its all done throughly.
> If we agree that the text editor is the lowest common denominator - notepad -
> then this saves lots of messing around with fonts etc.  Which really would
> screw up ascii art.
>
> Regards
> Nick Field